Portable — Solidworks
When discussing "Portable SOLIDWORKS," it's important to distinguish between portable hardware used to run the software and the concept of portable software itself (running without a full installation).
Unofficial Sources: You may find "portable" versions (e.g., SOLIDWORKS 2015, 2019) on third-party sites like The House of Portable or portablehouse.altervista.org. portable solidworks
Tools like VMware ThinApp or Spoon can "bubble" an application into a single executable. This virtualizes the registry and file system, allowing the program to run as if it were installed. However, this often causes issues with SOLIDWORKS' hardware acceleration. Windows-to-Go: Full Image Download: You can download the entire
- Disable "Enhanced Graphics Performance" (Tools > Options > Performance) if you see flickering lines.
- Use "Large Assembly Mode" – This automatically turns off RealView and Shadows when you have more than 50 components.
- SpeedPak Configuration: Before you leave the office, create a SpeedPak subset of your massive assembly. It retains the outer faces but drops the internal screws. This reduces RAM usage from 16GB to 4GB.
- Offline Mode: If you use a floating license, borrow it for 30 days before you travel to a remote site without WiFi.
Full Image Download: You can download the entire installation media (including prerequisites) to a portable drive. Disable "Enhanced Graphics Performance" (Tools >